The Bryans oh so close to achieving Grand Slam history by Matt Cronin

Written by: Staff on 3rd September 2013

The Bryans oh so close to achieving Grand Slam history by Matt Cronin

epa03778496 Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan celebrate with their trophies after winning the gentlemen's doubles final against Croat Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo of Brazil for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 06 July 2013. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

NEW YORK – American twins Bob and Mike Bryan are just two US Open victories from winning the calendar year Grand Slam and already, they can feel the heat. They barely squeaked by the Canadian duo of Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil 6‑7, 7‑5, 6‑2 and needed to change return of serves ends in order to do so – which they considered to be a radical move. Then late on Monday night they took a tight 7-6(7) 6-4 win over the British team of Colin Fleming and Jonathan Marray.

On Thursday. they will meet the accomplished veteran duo of Radek Stepanek of Leander Paes, who beat them in the 2012 Australian Open.

History is on the line.

The twins already hold the last four Grand Slams titles as well as the 2012 Olympic gold medal, which has been termed the “Bryan Golden Slam.” (see their list of records below). But winning the calendar year Grand slam is considered more important as so few individuals duals and teams have done it before. The last doubles team to pull it off were Aussie Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman in 1951.

“To be honest, it [winning the Grand Slam] is really on our mind,” Bob Bryan said after their win over the Canadians. “It’s really fun to play on Arthur Ashe court. We had a blast. Those tight points, like today, it’s been falling for us. We’re feeling good at 35, and want to play for a long, long time.”

The Bryans have played thousands of matches together since their parents, the former touring pro Kathy and teaching pro Wayne, put racquets in their hands at toddlers. They won their first 10-and-under tournament together at the age of six.

They understand the ebbs and flows of the game. Against another talented veteran in Nestor, whom they say they have played more than 50 times, they were down a set and a break. They felt like their window of winning the match was rapidly closing so they made a heady move that saved their chance of making more history. They switched return of serve courts and then broke Nestor four straight times.

“It’s a pretty big deal because we just never practice the other way,” the right-handed Mike Bryan said. “I have only taken a few deuce court returns in the last three, four years. I don’t see it very often. We’re not very comfortable with our second shots. We’re not used to poaching with our backhand volleys in the middle. But when you’re desperate, you have nothing to lose just because we didn’t have much hope the other way.”

Bob, who is left-handed, moved to the ad court in order to try to nullify the left-handed Nestor’s serving into the deuce court. He was eating Bob alive with wicked twisters down the T. So Bob went to Mike are reminded him that they pulled a switch in the past before against Nestor and it had worked.

“He was creating some incredible angles in the deuce court wide, and he was serving the lefty T, so it felt like the box was huge,” Bob said. “I thought I would have a little bit better chance in the ad where he would have to come right down the T to my backhand, and if I slid around I would get more forehands. It ended up working out, but it was just a desperate call. We were feeling a little bit hopeless on the return games, and throwing in a switch like that sometimes is a psychological advantage.”

The Bryans aren’t all business all the time, which is one of the reasons why they have become so likeable. They are honest and funny. They are risk-takers and they have their own style. Take their signature chest bump, which they borrowed from another popular doubles team, the Jensen Brothers. They perform it after every win, but they have had some bad moments flying high over the years.

One time during their rookie season they did a chest bump at the end of a match in Miami after saving some match points. “Mike kind of grabbed me, which is a no‑no,” Bob recalled. “So I came down on his ankle and I did my ankle. I came down on his foot and sprained the crap out of my ankle. I was on crutches for a few days. That was a bad one.”

Mike then remembered when they were playing for Stanford and Bob “actually broke my sternum and I couldn’t breathe.” Bob doesn’t recall any bones breaking, but does remember that his twin was struggling to breath for a couple of days.

If the Bryans manage to get past Paes and Stepanek and eventually go on to win the title, they are sure are sure to celebrate by leaping up and crashing into each other again, but they will be so happy if the manage to join the legends in winning the calendar year Slam that even if one of them gets a bloody nose, he will still be smiling.

Five Bryan Twins Records

They hold a team record 15 Grand Slam titles

They hold a record 92 tour titles

They hold a record 836 match wins

They have finished as the ATP year-end number 1 doubles team a record 8 times. This year, they clinched the year-end top spot on August 19, the earliest any team has done so.

Between 2005 and 2006, they set an Open Era record by competing in seven consecutive men’s doubles Grand Slam finals.

Topics: Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, US Open

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TennisReporters says:

September 4, 2013 at 10:46 am

RT @10sBalls_com: Matt Cronin on the Bryans: Oh So Close to Achieving Grand Slam History: NEW YORK – American twins Bob a… http://t.co/ki…
Deciding_Point says:

September 4, 2013 at 10:57 am

RT @10sBalls_com: The Bryans Oh So Close to Achieving Grand Slam History by Matt Cronin NEW YORK – American twins Bob a… http://t.co/kiBt…